It does not matter what MS does at this point. They can tell the customers that it will steal thier credit cards and give all the money to Ballmer and they will still sell out of them. People can't wait to get thier hands on the new CoD.
There are so many fanboi's of product lines DRM will have minimal impact. That is not to say they aren't going to take a hit from those of use who can't stand the always on DRM's.
I beg to differ, there are a great amount of smart people that will want nothing to do with it, then there will be greater numbers of stupid people and fan boys (much the same thing really) which will get it regardless and then there will be the few smart people that will begrudgingly get it coz they want to play some game that appeals to them. Yes they will slay their sales figures, no this wont kill them, I mean windows 8 is still trashing around on the ground isnt it?
Obviously, nobody wants DRM. But as a PC gamer, this is kind of the norm, so it's not a deal breaker for me. Xbox One will be about as restrictive as Steam. Maybe even less so, considering you can share games with 10 people...
That said, I won't be buying. There just aren't any exclusives I'm interested in. I have a PS3, but I'm probably skipping this console generation.
At some point in time Microsoft will likely backtrack on this decision to get the sales numbers it needs. The question you have to ask yourself is, since the infrastructure to do this is already inherent in the Xbox One machine, whether you trust them not to reverse that decision. The other question is whether you as a consumer are going to let this one 'slide' or do you want to send out a strong and powerful message to any manufacturer that is looking to pull this kind of stunt on it's loyal paying customers aren't going to get your custom. As a matter of principle I cannot and will not buy the Xbox One. If you are a publisher working on an exclusive IP for the Xbox One no matter how good it is, and how many 10/10s you get - read my lips, "I CANNOT BUY YOUR GAME!".
I like what Xbox one promises, but the used game or letting friends borrow your games issue is a deal breaker for me. PS4 is starting to look really good.
I already game on a next gen system, my curent gen PC. DRM will naturally hurt sales but there are also alot of ignorant people out there that will eat this up. Microsoft will just offer up special game bundles and incentives to take people's minds off the DRM stuff by the time it releases. PS4 is the better option if your only after a console. Otherwise put your hard earned money towards a gaming PC.
I don't think "Purchasing because of the DRM policy" is a joke answer at all - I'm going XBox One partially because of guaranteed digital download availability and the ability to share my games library with 10 people! I have never and will never buy or sell a used game, so whatever used-game policies the publishers enact doesn't bother me. I also don't take my console anywhere and have an ethernet port plugged in the back so...
Funny thing is that they'll probably still figure out a way to hack it pretty quick. This will probably mostly only hurt the legit purchasers rather than hinder piracy.
It's not the DRM that is killing the Xbox.. it's the fact that MS is forcing it down everyone else's throat to move the game industry into the vision that they have.. they want a purely digital distribution environment.. one where discs don't exist, one where you get all your games from them and them alone. Having said all that.. I still pre ordered mine I don't trade my games or buy used games.. I have excellent internet access and no caps. I would rather download my games then buy a disc anyways. I actually like the idea of voice commands and the Skype integration speaks to me. I'm excited about the media part of the Xbox as well.. Hmm.. what do you know I appear to be an MS fanboy.. I guess it suits me fine..
If I can get titles 30% off 6 months after release like on Steam then I'll deal with the Steam like licensing... but I won't buy the console if they expect me to pay full price for their limited games. Sony is probably loving this situation.
Microsoft continues to roll the dice; first with Windows 8 and now XBox One. Makes me wonder if they're playing too much "Risk" or love going to Vegas.